The Last Chance
by eriskbo
Summary: 300 years after the end of the Reaper War, the Galaxy needs Shepard again.
1. Chapter 1

**LAST CHANCE: Chapter 1**

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_"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." -RUMI_

_..._

The sinuous blue blade of an assari starliner sliced silently through the intense heat and light of a perfect Tuchanka morning.

"Matriarch Liara has arrived Wrex"

The ancient Krogan emperor chuckled over his breakfast.

"So i see and in style as well..." _Liara certainly doesn't lack for credits these days... those pretty toys are expensive._ "Well dont keep the Matriarch waiting Grunt. Bring her to me, this should be good"

...

The graceful blue skinned asari entered "Wrex. Its good to see you" she said smiling warmly.

"Good to see you too Liara, my friend" Wrex grinned, embracing her. "Like your ship, mind if I steal her?".

"What!" Liara stood shocked for a moment, then grinning in a most undignified way as the elderly Krogan doubled up with laughter

"Now there's the scared little archaeologist we rescued on Therum. Glad to see she's still in there somewhere behind all that assari sophistication... Dont worry I don't want your pretty toy, it doesn't even have a gun worth calibrating for a start"

Liara smiled up at him "Wrex you bully, I'll have you know the _Ilos_ is the fastest ship in its class."

"Well if you like running from a fight I guess that's great but we aren't all assari" the krogan grunted "so Liara what's it been? two centuries since Garrus's funeral?". At the mention of Garrus, Liara sighed

"We get to watch all our old friends die" she said sadly.

Wrex snorted "Maybe but the Primark lived and died well enough for a turian. We will be joining our friends soon enough." he said. Well at least I will" he chuckled. So what brings a Federation spy to Tuchanka. Trying to find new ways to bring down the Krogan Empire?" he grinned.

Liara smiled back "Please Wrex, ambassador not spy. You are quite aware that the Federation is committed to the goals of galactic peace and cooperation"

Wrex laughed heartily "Committed to trying to contain the Krogan Empire more likely. Makes sense. It would take the combined strength of the assari, the turians, the salaerians and the humans, not to mention the clever little quarians and a few others to even attempt something as foolish as that". He motioned for her to sit " So if its not to spy..."

"The Federation has been contacted by Legion" Liara said quietly."

"Legion?" Wrex said gruffly "You dont mean Shepard's pet geth?, I thought it died about the same time he did".

At the mention of Shepard's name Liara, looked away for a moment suddenly weighed down down with ancient memories. Then gathering herself she continued "Yes Wrex. Legion's platform was destroyed but not before it was able to rejoin the geth consensus. Apparently it was necessary in order to forge the peace Shepard wanted between the quarians and the geth. I do not know the details. We know even less about developments within the geth after that but it seems that in the two centuries the entire geth consensus has evolved into some form of immense individual consciousness".

"So what does it want?" Wrex said trying to look interested. _Liara certainly hasn't lost her capacity to bore me with science he thought __humorously_.

Liara sighed "We dont know. The message simply said that all organic life in the galaxy was at threat of extinction".

"What! again!" Wrex chortled merrily.

"The Federation is taking it seriously" Liara continued quietly, "we don't know if it was a warning or a threat. My area of study since the war has been the on origins of the Reapers and... and recent developments worry me. The quarians have been searching the Veil for months but our sources on Rannoch tell us there have been no sightings of geth anywhere, clearly they do not want to be found."

Wrex looked thoughtful "Well, if you are that worried Liara, considering what happened last time perhaps the Krogan Empire should lend a hand. I can have my ships keep a look out for any signs of geth".

Liara smiled gratefully "Thank you Wrex" she said "But if Legion doesn't want to be found I don't think its likely it will be. "

"I take it you have another plan assari?" Wrex said irritably.

"Yes" Liara said quietly. "Shepard. He had a unique relationship with Legion. It trusted him"

"Shepard's dead Liara" Wrex said incredulously "Long dead".

Liara looked hard at the Krogan "Dont you think I dont know that?". She sighed "We can bring him back. We have enough samples of his genetic material to..."

"That wouldn't be Shepard" Wrex said angrily "Just some copy grown in a tank. His memory deserves better than that, his daughter, deserves better than that".

"I know" Liara said sadly "But what choice do we have Wrex? We need Shepard.. and Tali too if only to keep him sane long enough to find Legion".

Wrex growled in disgust. "And Tali.. what was that hole of a planet called where you all crashed?. Where would you get...?

"Normandy's Medbay" she said quickly, "I recovered the samples and brought them with me when we were rescued. I made sure of it. Lucky she and Shepard were injured often enough for there to be extensive material".

Wrex banged his fist against his chair "Well at least you scientists left the poor girls bones to rest in peace, that's something I suppose".

"But I do need your help, old friend. As you are aware cloning is still illegal in Federation space". Liara continued quietly

Wrex sighed "Very well Liara, you have made your point. My scientists will assist you in creating your abominations but I will leave it to you explain to Shepard and Tali why you decided to bring them back. Good luck with that by the way. Especially considering what happened to her.."

"Thank you, Wrex" Liara said weakly.

...

She floated contently in the soft embrace of a warm white light. She dimly remembered a time of unrelenting pain and grief, of violence and death and silently thanked the Ancestors for their mercy in granting her this final peace. Maybe she would get to see her father and mother again despite what she had done despite what the priests said. Perhaps even...? No that was too much to hope for. She raised her small 3 fingered hand to her face feeling a sudden unfamiliar wetness on her cheek. It took a only a moment to register the shock. No mask. No suit. Only a few precious times before had she experienced this, those rare beautiful moments with Shepard which had been worth risking her life for. At least in the Afterlife it seemed she would finally be free of the damn thing.

As her thoughts drifted to her memories of Shepard, she became aware that she was no longer floating free but was instead lying on a smooth hard surface. She felt a thin cool fabric covering her body.

A voice whispered "Tali"?

The quarian's eyes opened slowly, blinking rapidly against the bright light. A tired looking man was sitting opposite dressed in the same thin hospital gown as she realized she was wearing.

"Shepard?" she whispered incredulously pushing herself up out of the bed. "It..is that really you?". The clean beautiful face was Shepard's without a doubt but it was his face back when she had first met him as a young girl on her Pilgrimage on the Citadel not the careworn battle scarred face she last remembered just before he was killed in the final battle. An unbearable memory came floating back to her "I want... more.. time" she had pleaded with him begging Shepard to come back to her safe and well, knowing deep in her heart she would never see his face again . "I know" he had said simply, saying everything else with his eyes.

"I don't know Tali" he admitted smiled sadly "I don't know. But whatever I am, it doesn't matter now" and with that he stood up, walked over and pulled her into his arms.

All too soon their embrace was suddenly broken by a familiar voice "Shepard, Tali, its wonderful to see you both after so long"

Startled, Shepard was the first to speak "Liara?" he said incredulously "and.. and.. Grunt?"

"Greetings Battlemaster. It has been too long" the krogan grinned.

"I am also very pleased to see you both again Shepard " the third member of the group said, a svelte androgynous brunette they didn't recognize. "I am EDI Moreau"

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_ All comments and reviews welcome_


	2. Chapter 2

**Last Chance: Chapter 2**

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_Liara, Grunt, EDI... and Liara looks... older... how can that be! _As his mind swam with the implications of that simple fact Shepard was distracted by another more immediate concern as he felt Tali collapse barely catching her before her slim body crashed to the floor.

"Damn it Liara" he shouted "Tali has no suit! You know better than that"

"Peace Shepard" said the assari reminding him of Justicar Samara's air of quiet command, "Tali is not in any danger. She no longer needs an environmental suit. Her immune system is almost as strong as yours. But.." glancing at the crumpled form "... "emotionally, that is another matter entirely. Grunt carry Tali to the room we prepared ..."

"I'll carry her" Shepard said angrily _She no longer needs a suit!...how is that remotely possible? _. He tried to pick her up but the effort made his vision swim and blur.

Liara approached and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Shepard, my friend" she said softly " you are still weak and you no longer have the benefit of your expensive Cerberus implants. "

"Trust me my battlemaster" said Grunt "no harm will come to your mate.

"OK Grunt, OK.. just take care of her... please" he mumbled as Grunt took her in his massive arms and carried her out of the door with Liara following close behind.

…

Liara stood quietly by the door of the room for a long moment after Grunt had placed Tali's body on the bed and left. As she switched off the light and turned to go, Tali hissed "Did you tell Shepard _assari_?".

Liara sighed "No, and by the goddess I never will. That is for you to do if you so wish."

Tali's laugh was quiet and bitter "and did you tell him about his daughter?"

"We are on Tuchanka. She is back on Thessia. Thats many weeks of travel even at the best FTL speeds and she is _my_ daughter Tali" skilfully avoiding the question.

When Tali didn't reply she softened "Tali, I understand how much of a shock it must have been to wake up out of your suit in front of so many people. There is a quarian environmental suit in the far locker if you wish to wear it for privacy or modesty or even nostalgia but you need to understand that you do not _need_ to wear one. Your immune system is strong. Consider that a gift." With that she turned off the light, closed the door and left.

…

"That is correct Shepard. 307 years have passed since you died" EDI said calmly "The entire Normandy crew was ordered to evacuate the Sol system after the failure of the final assault on the conduit. You were assumed to have been killed with the rest of Anderson's forces when Harbinger attacked. So we left on the Normandy as ordered. But then the Sol Relay exploded and Jeff.. " she paused for a moment "Jeff jumped into FTL... did everything possible to outrun the blast but the damage to the Normandy was substantial. By chance, there was a nearby garden world and Jeff attempted a crash landing."

"And you took his name EDI?"

"Yes Shepard" she said simply.

"I have no memory of assault at all" Shepard continued trying the break the awkward silence.

"That is unsurprising Shepard" EDI replied "The genetic material used in your reconstruction was sampled by Dr. Chekwas before you returned to Earth for the final battle probably in the course of treating you for damage sustained in your fight with Kai Lang at the Cerberus station."

"What does that have to do with it"

"Studies on Reaper corpses after the end of the War established that the reason the Reapers were constructed of both synthetic and organic components, the reason why human genetic material was being used to make a Reaper in the Collector base was because memory and experience is stored at the genetic level. Therefore the collective memory of an entire species could be stored inside single biosynthetic lifeform. Your memories are those that were stored in the last set of medical samples taken by Dr. Chekwas before that final Battle, therefore you do not have Shepard's last memories. it is assumed that Shepard must have made to the Citadel since the Crucible did indeed fire destroying the Reapers but we will never really know"

"But EDI the odds of you ending up at a garden world are... astronomical" said Shepard incredulously.

"You are correct in your judgment" the AI. replied "I have no explanation for it other than it happened".

"So the all my crew survives crash landing on some beautiful garden world and then just kicked back until help showed up?" Shepard smiled trying to imagine Garrus in a tropical paradise with a sniper rifle.

"All of the crew survived the initial crash Shepard" EDI said quietly "but when a rescue team finally reached us 6 years later, not all the crew were still alive. Jeff and Tali died within the first few weeks. Jeff never recovered fully from the crash because of his Vrolik's syndrome and Tali..."

"That will be enough for now EDI" Liara said sharply entering the room "Shepard has a lot of catching up to do. "

If EDI was put out she didnt show it "Certainly Matriarch-Ambassidor Liara" she said simply I will return to my station until needed."

"Hows Tali?" Shepard asked anxiously

"She is fine Shepard" Liara said reassuringly. "The room is equipped with a a sleep field and she wont wake till morning. You both... woke a little earlier than we expected. A few hours sleep will help a lot. I've made sure that she has access to a quarian envirosuit to put her mind at ease".

"But you said she can get by without one now? How is that even possible?" said Shepard

She sighed "No doubt Shepard, you have already realized that you and Tali are clones?"

"Pretty much" he replied grimly.

"The technology is far more advanced now of course" Liara continued "and high quality clones are indistinguishable from their originals although prejustice against the practice continues."

Shepard expression was unreadable "Can I hope at least Tali and I are 'high quality ones'"?.

"Believe me" said Liara "The very best. And in the process of... growing you two, it was a relatively simple matter to repair Tali's immune system. The process required reversing her DNA chirality from dextro to levo so you may want to be... more careful the next time you too are.. together" she smiled. "Its something I am pleased I could do for you both".

_Tali is alive with me and she no longer needs a suit and we could have kids someday if she wanted... So maybe things are not so terrible after all. _Despite the shocks of the day Shepard's face lit up in one of his trademark grins to Liara's immense delight

_ Its been a long time since Ive seen that she thought_.

" So Matriarch-Ambassidor? - sounds pretty impressive for an archaeologist" he said humerously.

His smile as always was infectious. "Thank you so much Shepard."

_Shepard seems to be recovering better than expected thank the goddess but then this is not his first time and having Tali helps as long as she can pull herself together._

"Its the network of quantum communicators which really holds the galaxy together now since they allow for instantaneous communication over any distance. With the Relays gone, now it takes weeks, months even years to physically cross the same distances we used to travel in seconds. So when you really need send someone a long lived asari woman who prefers her own company and a good book makes for the obvious choice but i do seem to spend most of my life shuttling between one world or another"

"Sounds pretty lonely" he said gently remembering the time when they were close on the original Normandy "It cant give you much of a shot at a private life, a family?"

She looked at him strangely "Actually, Shepard.. I I have a daughter, Salisa. Shes back on Thessia..." she smiled shyly ".. want to see a holo?"

"Love to" said Shepard enthusiastically.

An attractive young blue skinned woman appeared, grinned impishly at an invisible camera and waved before disappearing. "Wow Liara, shes certainly been lucky enough to inherit your looks but she does seem a little more.. extroverted than you? said Shepard.

"That she is Shepard" Liara laughed "That she is.. and one of the Federations best biotic commando's. Maybe you will get to meet her someday"

"I hope so, I could tell her some some great stories about her mother. So...'Federation' hmm?" said quietly Shepard, "I'm guessing thats your new version of the Council?"

Liara noted his change in tone "Something like that Shepard but it much more democratic than the old Council. It had to be with the chaos caused by the destruction of the Relays and the Fleet stuck in the Sol system after the battle. Its based on Earth, Vancouver actually, and any sapient species can apply to join provided they agree to work in the cause of peaceful coexistence and development. The current President is a quarian for instance"

Shepard laughed delightedly "Really!, Tali is just going to love that."

"I sure she will" Liara said smiling.

"Sooo Liara" Shepard said quietly "are you ever going to tell me why you brought me back from the dead – or shall we dance around this particular yahg in the room a little longer?

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_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	3. Chapter 3

**Last Chance: Chapter 3**

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_She is lying on a hard cold surface and through her cracked mask she sees a burning blinding light, hears the screams of the dying. Later she realizes someone shouting her name muffled and distant and she feels herself being lifted into a man's arms. Shepard? No wait, this was Garrus his face, burned black and broken, holding her in his arms and running from the light. "Garrus... Shepard?" she whispers "Gone" he replies "We failed". She struggles " "Look.. can't leave him". "Dead" he replies "Must leave... now". Something inside her screams and dies... she struggles and then everything fades to black._

Tali woke to see Shepard sitting by her bed holding her hand "Hello" he said smiling. She started to cry, silently at first but then hysterically. Shepard climbed into her bed and held her like a child "Its going to be OK Tali.. its going to be OK."

Much, much later, Tali asked whispered "Shepard... hhhow is this possible... you died! Again! You damn _bos'chet... _you damn _bos'chet", _weakly hitting his chest "And then.. then I died on that damn planet without you. But no, I'm alive.. here with you.. in bed with you like nothing ever happened. I cant bear it Shepard.. I cant.. is this real? are you going away again?" her voice cracked "Dont leave me Shepard please, dont leave me. Let me die in your arms tonight but dont leave me again".

Shepard held her tightly weeping silent tears. "We are alive Tali, it doesn't matter how. The war is over and I'm never going to leave you again. I'm going to marry you like I always wanted to, build you your house on Rannoch and live with you for the rest of our days, we deserve this last chance at happiness after all we've suffered

They held each other sobbing in the dark each afraid to let the other go in case the other would vanish like a dream.

"I'm hungry" Tali announced suddenly and they both dissolved in laughter. "No really Shepard, I am so hungry" she said playfully punching him.

She sighed "So I guess I must really be alive and not dreaming"

"You sound disappointed" Shepard said kissing her forehead gently.

"_No_" she said firmly kissing him hard on the lips "but I hope theres something I can eat here. Obviously, I dont have any nutrient paste anymore.. or a suit for that matter"

She sighed "Nothing makes sense anymore" she looked into Shepards eyes touching his wet cheek "Except you, that's all im holding on to right now"

She looked around the room "but some breakfast would be nice too"

"I'll get something" Shepard said getting out of bed.

"Dont worry" he smiled as she turned to him looking anxious "there is a kitchen at the end of the corridor I will be right back, I promise."

He returned within a few minutes with a tray but she was disappointed to that none of the many small bowls contained anything she even recognized as food. He gave her the tray and got back into bed with her. She looked at him puzzled.

"Tali" he paused wondering how she would take this latest revelation "Tali... you trust me dont you?"

"Of course Shepard, with my life"

"Good, very good" he said slowly. "So trust me and give the things in these bowels a try. None of it will make you sick. You probably wont like all of it but you might find one or two you do"

Tali looked nervous but then just shrugged and dipped a long finger into a bowl with something yellow and soft in it. She tasted it gingerly. Then her face lit up in delight "What is this Shepard? - its _delicious_!"

Shepard gave a long sigh of relief. "So you like scrambled eggs, that's something" he smiled.

They happily wasted most of the next hour playful experimenting with the contents of the bowels. Most of them she loved, especially things that were very sweet or sour or salty. There was one or two that horrified her so Shepard mentally crossed them off his Tali list.

In the middle about giggling about the delights of something called 'chocolate' she suddenly became more serious. "So Shepard, what does this all mean" she said looking clear in his eyes in that familiar way she did when she wanted the clear unvarnished truth"

"Tali... in the course of...bringing us back they decided to fix your immune system so that you wouldn't need a suit anymore. In order to do that they reversed your DNA chirality from dextro to levo. "

She sat in stunned silence, Eventually she said weakly "Shepard, what am I?"

He sighed, "I know Tali, I know,... I felt the same way when Cerberus brought me back the first time, more machine than man. But then I met you again, and you you still saw me as _me_ not some kind of Reaper husk or zombie and that was enough. Now its happened again and I'm back to being flesh and blood again but also a _clone_, grown here in a tank from one of Chekwas bio-samples."

He paused rubbing his head "At Freedoms Progress, I felt sick to my stomach. Part of me wanted to end it right there and then but then I ran into you again of all people in the Universe, you. And the joy of seeing you, being with you again outweighed pretty much everything else."

He felt a small hand in his. "So .."she began hesitantly, "Clones are sterile, right?

He grinned suddenly,, happy that the same thought had occurred to her "Actually, _no, _not in our case" he smiled.

Her eyes burned into his "So does _that_ mean...?"

"Yes Tali" he said as she covered his smile in kisses.

...

"Interesting how different your body tastes now" Tali said in a playfully sultry voice.

Shepard grinned stroking her hair "I could say the same"

She reached out and touched his face with her long fingers. "You are right, this is all that matters, that i get to do this with you again. That we get to be together again. Its a miracle, a dream. I don't care what it took to make it come true"

She removed her hand, and stared at the cealing. There was that question that she had to ask "Shepard, what does she... Liara want with us? I'm assuming she didn't bring us back out of the kindness of her heart...and please, it better not be anything to do with damn Reapers or saving the galaxy because we gave already" she said added darkly.

Shepard gave a bitter laugh "No. There are no more damn Reapers to kill Tali, no more husks, no more Cerberus"

"What does she want, Shepard"? She said insistingly.

"Its Legion" he said simply "They want me to try and contact Legion"

"Legion?" Tali said surprised "He.. went back to the geth? we were there remember on Rannoch"

"I remember" Shepard said simply. " Sacrificed himself for the common good ... as did Mordon"

"As did you" Tali said sadly

"Do you remember how Legion got his name?" Shepard asked changing the subject.

"Sure" Tali said "It said it wasn't an individual but just hundreds of geth existing in the same platform working by consensus 'we are geth' it used to say... and EDI called it 'Legion' from one of your old books which means 'many', right?"

"Right, and those hundreds of geth that made up our Legion were part of trillions of others behind the Veil. Well, 'Legion' recently sent out a.. rather confusing massage. It started by saying "I am Legion, I am the geth"

Tali pondered on the meaning of the words for a moment "A single AI made up of trillions of geth... almost unlimited intelligence..."

Shepard looked admiringly at her, remembering her genius with tech. "Right, and that's what spooked the authorities"

"What has Legion done?" asked Tali sharply.

"Nothing so far apart from apparently not wanting to be found" Shepard said

Tali breathed a sigh of relief, "_so _what do they want us to do Shepard?" she said poking him in the stomach insistently.

"Owww.. Basically for us the find the little guy, ask him how he is, ask him if has a good answer yet for why he used a piece of my N7 armor to repair himself that one time that sort of thing"

Tali looked incredulous "and they cant handle that themselves?... they had to bring the great Commander Shepard, my Commander Shepard back from the dead, not to mention his beautiful quarian girlfriend just for that?"

Sheoard grinned " I agree it does seem a little... easy.. compared to what we usually do.. or _did_ . They brought us back because.. well because we were Legions friends and crewmates so Legion might be more willing tobe found and talk to us. They have even given us a nice new ship, an assari private yacht called the _Ilos_ to go look for him"

Tali laughed happily "A new ship!...you know, I just realized I don't even know when 'now' is.. " She said and then her voice took on that purr he loved "on second thoughts I don't want to know at the moment. Plenty of time to catch up with the universe later..."

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_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Chance: Chapter 4**

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_She sits in the darkness of Shepard's ruined cabin in the wreck of the Normandy with her shotgun by her side drunk and silently crying. Outside in the intense light of the jungle the crew, defeated, broken and leaderless lay lifeless in the heat waiting for the coming of the Reapers. All they can talk about is Liara and the child she is carrying, Shepard's child, as if it somehow it meant he hadn't really left them. All she can think of is Shepard melding with Liara on the eve of the final assault. That he betrayed her. As she betrayed him now with Garrus, poor broken burned Garrus with his Turian brandy confessing his secret love for her. "Mother" she whispers into the darkness, "Father... Shepard". She raises her shotgun and fires._

"Shepard, Tali" came Liara's voice at the door. "I'm sorry. Please wake up and get dressed. We have something of an emergency"

Shepard is instantly awake and reflexively reachs out for a non existent weapon "_Damn!_" he grunted. He scanned the room for threats. _Nothing_. He moved quickly to the door and opened it a crack. Liara stood alone in the corridor crying silently.

"Liara?" he said, opening the door fully now, "are you alright?, whats happening?"

Startled, the asari turned to him and ran into his arms "My daughter" she said simply.

"What happened Liara?" said Shepard gently, "What can I do?"

"What is the matter?" Tali said appearing at the door in her hospital gown "Whats going on " she added coldly to Liara.

Liara released Shepard "I'm sorry Tali, Shepard. Grunt has just informed me that a Federation ship has just arrived in orbit. They intend to ask for my extradition back to Thessia on grounds of treason" she said more calmly.

"Does this have to do with what you did... about us?" Shepard said.

"I'm afraid so, cloning is highly illegal in Federation space. We are outside Federation space of course but I was under given express orders not to do this." Liara said quietly "I understood and accepted the consequences"

"Damn it! You should have told us Liara!" Shepard yelled

"I know but you are safe. There is nothing they can do us. This is the Krogan Empire and Wrex is hardly likely to hand his worst enemies over to the Federation never mind his friends. There will be a formal hearing though "

Shepard pondered for a moment "OK, we need to get dressed and see we can do about this. Liara, do you have any combat armor? A weapon?"

"Shepard, it wont ..." Liara began

"Damn it! do you have any or not?

She sighed "Yes, we some suits of standard light armor worn by asari commando's in the ship. It a highly flexible material so it should fit. We also have some pistols."

"That will have to do... What about Tali?"

"The quarian envirosuit in locker of you room has shields which are much stronger than the commando armour" She said.

"Right. Tali suit up, Liara get me that armor, two pistols and as many thermal clips you can carry, _now_ Liara!"

...

"Hows the suit, Tali?" Shepard asked slipping into the close-fitting black commando armor .

"Similar to my old one, stronger shields" she said quietly.

"Good, grab a pistol and some clips, hopefully this will all come to nothing but..."

"With us, trouble always comes knocking" her smile unseen behind her mask.

"Thats usually the way of it" Shepard grinned "shame there's no shotgun here, you used to be a unholy terror with it I remember"

Her smile faded "Its OK Shepard i'm not so fond of shotguns any more" she said. She reached out and picked up a pistol and fitted it to her belt along with spare thermal clips

"Shepard, Tali" Liari said walking into the room "Ah, I see you are both properly equipped to start a minor war" she said darkly.

"Liara!" Shepard said angerly, "If you remember anything about me, you know I always look for a peaceful solution but only a fool goes into a situation like this with no backup plan and no way out if things turn ugly"

Liara sighed "Of course you are right Shepard but you should know that the person they sent here to take me back... its my daughter."

"Your daughter?" Shepard exclaimed "Damn I'm sorry Liara"

"And I'm sorry to both of you .. to you Tali especially, I'm so sorry it came to this" Liara said quietly

Tali said nothing. Behind the jet-black opaque visor of her quarian helmet, her expression was unreadable

...

Shepard Tali and Liara entered a vast dark stone chamber, virtually empty apart from a dias towards the back with a heavy stone throne containing a ancient krogan and three other stone chairs to the left and to right of it with each a fearsome looking krogan warrior. In front of the dais below a short series of steps were a series stone benches. A tall women in dressed in the now familiar black armour of a asari commando was standing a little off to one side. As Shepard got closer he reconsigned a highly amused Wrex sitting on the throne and Grunt sitting with the other Krogan grinning. _Wrex's Krantt no doubt _he thought_._

As he approached the dias, Wrex stood up, and walked down the steps. He approached Shepard, looked at him deep in the eyes for a long moment and sniffed him cautiously, the way the Urdnot Shaman once inspected Grunt. _I wonder if Wrex remembers that Grunt was also tank born, a clone, that he allowed him to take the Right of Passage and join Clan Urdnot regardless.. _he though_._

Finally Wrex made up his mind "Shepard, my battle brother, my friend its good to see you again after so long" he shouted embracing him.

Shepard sighed "Thanks Wrex, its good to see a friend right about now"

"Because of Liaras daughter?" chuckled Wrex returning to his throne "Granted she is a good fighter, one of the best - she gets that from her father, but shes only one women"

"Ah Uncle Wrex" you say the nicest things, the beautiful young asari grinned back at him

She turned to him, relaxed, confident, focused "Commander Salisa T'Soni " she grinned at him

"Commander John Shepard" he replied finding her grin infectious

"_Shepard_" she gasped.

Liara came forward and touched her arm "Yes daughter this is Shepard, your father."

Wrex exploded into a good natured roar of laughter closely followed by Grunt and the rest of the Krantt_**.**_

"Shepard my friend, there's never a dull moment around you" bellowed the ancient Krogan merrily wiping his eyes

"You look more terrified of your daughter than the Collecters Shepard" roared Grunt. Salisa caught his eye, the shock gone to be replaced with her seemingly irrepressible smirk and started to laugh _Well i guess I know where she got that from Shepard thought weakly _giving into the laughter himself . Salisa approached him with a shy smile and put her arms around him drawing him into a hug "Good to get the chance to meet you father" she said simply. Wrex and Grunt laughing came down from the dais and joined in the reunion

Liaria went over to Tali who stood apart form the general mirth silent and unnoticed.

"I'm so sorry Tali" Liaria said quietly "its all my fault, my selfishness."

"Look how happy he is" Tali said wistfully

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	5. Chapter 5

**Last Chance: Chapter 5**

* * *

President Lia'Zorah vas Rayya looked out of an impossibly large window in her three-hundredth floor Vancouver office at the vast blue-grey ocean which covered most of this planets surface wondering if she would ever get bored of the sight of it. She was that rare thing, a politician that despised politics so her election to the highest office in the Federation had been as big a surprise to her as it had been to everyone else. That and being a quarian but that was hardly an issue these days.

"Commander T'Soni is ready to give her report Madame President"

"Thank you, Kelly" she said "Please activate the communicator"

The familiar figure of the blue-skinned asari woman shimmered into existence.

"Greetings Madame President "

Lia sighed "Salisa, as I have toId you before I am not military nor do I have patience with pointless formalities. My name is Lia'Zorah and that is sufficient"

Salisa smiled "Certainly Lia'Zorah"

Lia smiled affectionately "Good. See you can learn" becoming more concerned she asked "So how is your mother and how much trouble has got herself and us into?"

"We just had an audience with Urdnot Wrex. My mother has successfully brought back Commander Shepard and he was present. It was pretty crazy to say the least. Wrex served under him at the Battle of the Citadel and one of his personal bodyguards during the Collector Campaign and they both consider him a battle brother so hearing was pointless from the start and broke up. Liara also brought back another of his crew Tali'Zorah vas Normandy"

"What!" Lia exclaimed, "why did she bring back Tali'Zorah as well?"

"Apparently she is Shepard's friend and lover, my mother felt it would be necessary..."

"To stop Shepard from going crazy from being brought back from the dead after three hundred years?" Lia said grimly

"Yes something like that"

"Its a poor way to treat people that have given so much, suffered so much for us" Lia said sighed "They deserve to rest in peace as honored hero's. However whats done is done... Salisa can you ask Tali'Zorah if I may speak to her as soon as possible? "

"Certainly Lia'Zorah"

"Thank you Commander. Lia'Zorah out"

...

Spying Tali and Liara looking serious and sad Shepard walked over to them. He reached out to hold Tali in his arms and felt her stiffen slightly to his touch

"Shepard, go be with your daughter" Tali said quietly, "I dont mind. I'm fine"

"How can you possibly be fine with this Tali"? he said angrily looking at Liara "_I'm_ not fine with it, we need to find somewhere that not full of excitable korgan and get some answers."

"Yes Shepard" Liara said flatly "Follow me I know a place we can be alone and talk"

She led the two of them down a long dark corridor and up several flights of stone stairs which lead to a vast biodome which contained all manner of plants once native to Tuchanka which were slowly being reintroduced. She eventually led them to a bench with a view of a copse of beautiful dark green willowy trees obviously a favorite place of hers and gestured for them to sit,

The three friends all sat quietly for a moment gazing at this little oasis. "Why Liara" Shepard said demanded quietly "How".

Tali interrupted "Shepard. You dont have to pretend anymore. I know you and Liara were together before the final assault on the conduit in London. And.. and I don't blame you... not any more" she sighed.

Shepard hit his fist against the bench in frustration "But Tali I didn't!.., not ever!.. Ive never even wanted to... not with Liara or with anyone else"

"Children don't come into existence by magic Shepard" Tali said bitterly "Why are you lying to me? Why can't you be honest with me? I.. I will forgive you. I know how terrible that time was for all of us..."

Shepard growled at the silent asari "Liara perhaps you can explain what the hell happened"

Liara sighed heavily "Shepard I asked you to meld with me to share our memories of our friendship one last time since I knew in my heart it would be the last time we would see each other again. It was a honest unselfish request or at least I have convinced my self that it was. But when our minds melded... I shared more than just our memories. I allowed your genetic code to reorder mine to create Salisa. This is how asari reproduce, not through sex but through the mind. I did it so I would always have a part of you because i didn't think I could survive any other way. Tali, I did this without Shepard's knowledge or consent, and if you don't believe me believe him I am so sorry and I have blamed myself every day since for what happened to you ".

Shepard concerned "Wait, what happened to you..?." he said turning to Tali.

Tali stood up suddenly "I don't want to talk about it Shepard, but do believe you that you didn't know... that you didn't betray me. I don't even blame you Liara... I would have done the same thing if I could. Can we go back to our room now? I'm feeling very tired "

...

As she lay in bed later trying to sleep, Tali reflected that rather than making her feel better, Shepard, in convincing her that he hadn't betrayed her, had made her feel so much worse. If only Shepard had slipped that night, she could have forgiven him with the hope that she would have been forgiven in turn. But now.. now.. how could he ever forgive what she did.

...

After Tali fell asleep, Shepard wandered through the stone corridors of the lab alone in a pensive mood. So he had a daughter, not only a daughter but a grown up daughter in fact a 300 year old daughter! He shook his head slowly.

He ran into Salisa in the corridor "Comm... father" she began awkwardly.

"How about just Shepard for now he said"

She flashed him a beautiful mischievous smile "I like that... Shepard, thanks"

"Cant sleep or...?"

"I've just finished reporting back to Earth principally on the total failure of my mission since there's no way Uncle Wrex is going to let any of you go"

"Uncle Wrex?" thats the second time you said that.

She flashed him another killer smile "When I was growing up mother and I spent a lot of time here on Tuchanka. She was studying the ancient ruins and trying to bring the krogans into the Federation and while she did that Uncle Wrex was giving me combat training".

"Great. Not only do i have a daughter I didn't know I had but she was also brought up by krogans" Shepard said weakly.

She chuckled delightedly "Well I had a lot to live up to, hearing about your exploits from Wrex and Grunt, all those wild stories of Saren and the Collectors and the Reapers made you sound like you were some kind of superman or living god"

Shepard smiled ruefully "Trust me, I am neither of those things"

"Oh I can see that _now_" Salisa said playfully

"Well it has been a tough day" he said "I normally eat Reapers for Breakfast"

She laughed. "Really!.. Oh Wow!.. How about a little unarmed combat practice then im sure there's so much you could teach me"

"Seriously?" he said incredulously.

"Certainly Shepard, there's a training room not 10 minutes away" she said challengingly

"Lead me to it" he said grinning.

The training room was a simple affair with padded walls and a rubber floor.

"No changing rooms?" Shepard said

"No need to change Shepard, we are both wearing light armour so it adds a nice element of realism. Watch out!" she said suddenly sweeping with her right leg and knocking him down.

"Wow that was easy" she said in mock disappointment.

Shepard instantly lept to his feet "dirty fighter, eh?" he said humorously. He moved in quickly and grabbed her shoulder for a throw, but she seemed to melt and flow like water and slipped out from his grasp to deliver a punch in his lower abdomen which felled him to floor.

"Stop going easy on me Shepard, im not a little girl you know. You might be the Hero of the Citadel but I have two centuries of combat experience and a krogan Uncle" she grinned.

For the next hour they fought each other to a dead heat each blocking the others moves. Exhausted, and sweating Shepard made one final desperate move which knocked her flying but not before she made a grab for him and they both crashed to the floor in a heap laughing.

"I think we'll can call that a draw" panted Shepard pinning her body to the ground"

"OK Shepard" Salisa said quietly, looking deep into his eyes for a moment

Staggering to his feet he pulled her up to him.

"Thanks for the practice Commander" he said "Goodnight Salisa"

"Goodnight Shepard", she said quietly "Oh before I forgot the Federation President asked if she could speak to Tali'Zorah vas Normandy alone tomorrow via the quantum communicator.

"Alone?" he said " Do you know why?"

"No idea" she grinned, "probably because Tali'Zorah outranks you... she is an Admiral after all".

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	6. Chapter 6

**Last Chance: Chapter 6**

* * *

"Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya it is a honor to greet you clan-sister, Hero of the Battle of Rannoch" the President said excitedly "_Keelah'Selai_".

Although she was half expecting it, the site of another quarian's unmasked face was almost shocking. The President of the Federation, a plain middle-aged female quarian with a warm kind face, was dressed modestly in a elegant dark long tunic which snugly covered her slim body as well as a veil in the familiar swirls of the Zorah clan that used to decorate Tali's old suit.

"_Keelah'Selai_, Madame Pres.."

"Lia" the President insisted gently with a smile

"Lia, thank you, but it was Shepard..."

"I am well aware of the debt we owe the Commander but dont be so modest Tali, you were the senior officer in the team that landed on Rannoch which disabled the geth fighter servers, rescued Admiral Zaal'Koris and destroyed the Reaper Base, not to mention made peace with the geth..." she paused and smiled shyly "My apologizes for my enthusiasm you were the subject of my dissertation at the University of Rayya and I never imagined that one day I would meet you. You were something of an inspiration for me growing up, watching vids of your adventures"

"University of Rayya?" Tali asked weakly her head spinning

Lia smiled "Oh, of course, the Rayya was your birthship. No one lives on the actual Rayya now of course, but she has been preserved as a museum to the memory of the Migrant Fleet. I remember going there as a child and being amazed how many people could live for so long in such cramped conditions and yet still thrive. I even saw your cubical and crawled inside pretending to be you. "

_The Migrant Fleet is gone, she thought with a sudden pang, while its is wonderful that my people have the homeworld I can never really go home again_

"But Lia your shipname is 'vas Rayya'

Lia smiled "We no longer have ship names Tali" she said "since we do not live in ships. When our people returned to Rannoch they named their new settlements after their old ships. Our names follow the old ways. I was born in the city of Neema so I was Lia'Zorah nar Neema until I went on my Pilgrimage"

"You still have Pilgrimages?" Tali exclaimed with delight "so not everything has changed"

Lia laughed "Yes, with a people as ancient as ours, old habits die hard. The difference is that our youngsters now as a rule do not leave the homeworld but instead go to other communities on Rannoch volunteering for projects to help improve peoples lives, learning skills, gaining experience. When they find a community they wish to settle down in they then take its name. I loved our capital Rayya since I first arrived on my Pilgrimage so I decided to make my home there and so became Lia'Zorah vas Rayya nar Neema."

She paused for moment and asked cautiously "Tali, may I ask why you are wearing an envirosuit, is your immune system weak or is it a matter of personal choice?

"I have been told that my immune system has been restored" Tali replied "and I have been... out of my suit with no ill effects but.."

"You find the suit comforting?" Lia asked.

"I've always hated being confined to my suit but now I find the lack of... privacy... difficult... sometimes. Maybe I will get used to it in time when things are different... Have our people completely adapted to Rannoch then?

"Yes, within three generations there was no need for suits at all on Rannoch although there is still a ultra-conservative religious minority which still chooses to wear them but from what I hear" she smiled knowingly "thats far from the reason in your case"

_Does she know about me and Shepard? she wondered_

"But we still have trouble adapting when we travel to other worlds though so envirosuits are still useful. It took me years to completely adapt to Earth when i first came here as a newly elected Senator. Prehaps you would be interested in a career in politics yourself at some point. I can think of noone more qualified to represent the quarian people that the Hero of Battle of Rannoch" Lia smiled

When Tali didnt reply, Lia continued "Tali, I would love to spend all day chatting to you about the wonderful things our people have achieved since you won back the homeworld for us, you know how we quarians love to chat, but there are important matters to discuss. I believe you know that Matriarch Liara acted outside her authority bringing you and Commander Shepard back?"

"Yes" Tali said bitterly "Liara has a tendency to do whatever she pleases regardless of the consequences to other people"

"Ah yes I was forgetting you knew her" Lia said quietly "well, although I cannot condone her actions I cannot fault her reasoning "

"Legion" Tali said simply

"Yes exactly, Legion" Lia continue "As a quarian I believe you understand the significance of a single A.I composed of trillions of geth better than most.

Tali shivered in spite of herself "Almost unlimited intelligence and therefore virtually unstoppable" she said quietly.

"Yes" said Lia "Although of course the geth kept their word and have shown no sign of hostility in the last three centuries so there is hope in that at least. Liaria believes that what we are looking for is a single platform, perhaps some kind of ship hosting all geth. If so, it would be huge, miles across." she sighed "Liara has also been researching the Reapers since the end of the War specifically their origins and she believes that the Reapers passed through a similar stage in their evolution from individual AI's to sentient dreadnaughts. "

"She believes that Legion is a Reaper?" Tali said in horrified whisper

"On the cusp of becoming something like one perhaps we really don't know but its vital that we find out. I would ask you to consider this information secret for the time being."

"Yes of course"

"I believe you knew Legion?" Lia asked

"Yes, I was on several missions with him and got to know him quite well" Tali said "especially when we attacked the Reaper base on Rannoch"

"Good" said Lia "Very good, so there may be a chance that given the opportunity Legion will allow you to find him and make contact. I am formally reactivating your rank as Admiral of the Fleet forthwith with all rights and privileges pertaining. This is your mission Tali"

"What about Shepard?" asked Tali stunned.

"This is your mission" Lia repeated firmly "You are a Zorah and a quarian and an Admiral who served during the Battle of Rannoch. You are someone I know I can trust to do your duty and get the job done. I'm giving you both the _Ilos_ and the _Athena, _Commander T'Soni's ship. Crew selection is at your discretion. Commander Shepard would obviously be a valuable asset as would Commander T'Soni herself. I want the search to begin immediately. Do, whatever it takes to find Legion Admiral Tali'Zorah.

"I wont let you down", Lia'Zorah" Tali said quietly

Lia smiled "I know you won't, _Keelah'Selai_"

...

Shepard looked up as the the door of their room opened and Tali walked in slowly, nervously wringing her fingers. He smiled affectionately, remembering the shy excitable teenager back on the old Normandy.

"How did it go Tali?" he said warmly

Tali sighed "Lia'Zorah... I mean the President has made me an Admiral again and given me command of the mission to find Legion"

Shepard's face fell but professional reflexes kicked in almost instantly and smiled "Hey, congratulations Tali, good call." he said

_Keelah... it just isnt fair but I do need some time alone to think_

"Shepard I have been given command of two ships the _Ilos_ and your daughters ship the _Athena. _One of the ships will be my flagship so to speak and the other I want you to be in command of. Any suggestions?"

_Which means we wont see much of each other but maybe thats for the best for now she thought_

There was a long pause. Shepard sighed "Well Tali its your call but the _Athena_ is a military vessal, albeit basically a heavily modified transport, so I would probably be a little more at home than a fancy yacht with no guns. You can trust me to watch your rear" he said with a smile.

_Still cracking jokes to put me at ease even when he's sad, she thought, one of the things I so love about him_ Tali smiled "OK then, shes yours and i'm guessing you will want Salisa as well since she will be familiar with the systems"

"Makes sense. I'm three hundred years out of date after all. I probably wouldn't even be able work the coffee maker without her, assuming they even have coffee"

Tali laughed "Its the same for me Shepard and Im supposed to be the Tech expert on the team remember?. You only let me come aboard on the old Normandy in the first place to be your pet "geth expert".

"I remember" Shepard said fondly "that seems like a long time ago, hell it is a long time ago but really its just been a few years for us"

He moved towards her and put his arms around her. They stood quietly for a moment just embracing each other lost in happy memories.

Tali shook herself out of her reverie and pulled out of his embrace "OK Shepard so I'm going to take the _Ilos _with EDI as pilot as she knows the systems and.. well pretty much everything else. Since we have no idea were Legion is I thought we could start by flying to Palaven. It will take several weeks but it will give Legion a chance to contact us if he wants to and it will give me a chance too.. catch up with with my tech reading"

"Why Palaven ?" he asked

"Garrus" she said quietly "Liara told me he became Primark after he got back from that... that planet. He's buried in Cipritine and since it really doesn't matter where we go I thought...

"That's a great idea Tali, I should have suggested it myself" he said remembering his best friend.

"So if you go find Salisa and let her know and I'll do the same with EDI and we can all meet in the docking bay in a hour I want to leave immediately

"Sure Tali" he smiled "I'll go find her now" he stood to leave.

"Oh and thanks again Shepard" Tali said quietly, not looking at him

"Sure thing Admiral, the mission always comes first" he said going through the door.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	7. Chapter 7

**Last Chance: Chapter 7**

* * *

"EDI whats our ETA on Palaven?" Shepard asked irritably wondering if he would have ever joined the Systems Alliance Navy and gone into space if it had taken this long to get anywhere.

He thought he caught a barely perceptible sigh as Edi Moneru said. "13 days 8 hours Shepard, that's 14 hours less than the last time you asked."

He slammed his fist against the _Athena's_ bulkhead in frustration.

"Hey relax Shepard" Sa'lisa said "You're the guy who broke the mass relays remember?"

He stopped in his tracks, fists clenching out of reflex then catching her mischievous smirk, relaxed and started to chuckle.

"This is true" he said sardonically "Maybe I should have let the Reapers win back in the day "

Sa'lisa laughed merrily "Well I wouldn't quite go that far... I guess I'm just used to the long journeys. My first tour was out in the Terminus Systems and it took over a year just to get there. That was on one of those huge PanGalaxtic Liner's though, they're more like space stations"

Shepard looked around the cramped interior of the _Athena _"Yes it doesn't help that this is without doubt the smallest ship I've ever served on". The _Athena_ was shaped like a throwing discus from ancient times, roughly 40 meters in diameter, 10 meters thick and less than a fifth of the size of the _Normandy_ SR-1.

Sa'lisa said "Well she's a souped up _Sharblu_-class transport with extra armor and shields, making her one tough little bitch, not to mention the fun stuff like front-and-rear twin Ardat Particle Cannon's and a tactical cloak generator. Cramming all that into a bird this small doesn't leave much room for creature comforts, although it does mean we get to have the punch of a light frigate with the speed and maneuverability of a fighter. Almost"

Shepard noted the note of pride in her voice "And shes your ship... I'm sorry about taking her away from you Commander"

Sa'lisa sighed "Its OK Shepard, I was pretty pissed but I've been around long enough to know how the military works. Besides..." she said flashing a mischievous smile "..if I have to take orders from somebody on this mission I would much rather it be you"

"Thanks" Shepard said ruefully turning to look out of the cockpit window at the stars streaking past.

He didn't hear Sa'lisa come up quietly behind him before she stated to massage his tense shoulders "Are you sure its just the ship and going stir-crazy which is making you tense?" she said in a low voice that reminded him of the Consort Sha'ira, "perhaps you just need to schedule some quality time with your girlfriend...?"

He turned in surprise to see her looking intently at him. There was a long pause and they both started laughing.

"That would certainly... be nice" Shepard admitted grinning.

"One of the best ways of working off the frustrations of long space journeys - that and sparring" she smiled impishly.

"Ah yes... I had a certain turian friend that swore by both methods of... ' stress release' ".

"Shepard" EDI's voice broke in over the communicator "Tali wants us to drop out of FTL in 6 hours in order to transmit a general broadcast to Legion"

"Looks like its your lucky day after all, Shepard" Sa'lisa said with a knowing smile.

...

With a barely perceptible shudder, the _Athena_ dropped out of FLT and in the cockpit window the shimmering perfect blue starliner_ Ilos_ once again appeared, motionless against the stars.

"Tali'Zorah to _Athena_, come in _Athena" _said a familiar voice.

"_Athena_ here, Tali" Shepard said grinning to himself "Request permission to 'link ship environments'"

There was a shocked silence and then barely suppressed giggle "For what purpose _Athena_?" she replied in a surprisingly sultry voice.

"Crew morale Admiral" he said with a smirk.

"Hmm... OK. Please proceed to.. 'link ship environments'. And quickly... Admirals orders''" she said softly.

"Certainly Admiral and thank you".

...

"This is a nice ship" said Shepard in bed later "reminds me of that fancy hotel on Illum we stayed in after we destroyed the Collector base, remember? The one where we..."

"I remember" Tali said laughing.

She laid her head on his shoulder "I've missed you" Tali sighed stroking Shepard's face with her long fingers.

"Good" he said softly kissing her, "I was beginning to wonder.."

"Really?" she said sadly "I'm so sorry Shepard, there was just so much to deal with ...and I haven't really finished dealing with it, not by a long way, maybe after Palaven"

"Palaven?" he said surprised.

"Ask me later, please Shepard, not now... just hold me, tell me you love me" she said starting to cry.

"Hey" he said wrapping her in his arms "Its OK, its OK, whatever it is I love you and I always will "

She looked at him intently with her eyes faintly luminous in the dark, shiny with tears "Promise?"

"You have my word, Tali"

A shudder ran through the length of the _Ilos_

"EDI what the hell just happened?" yelled Shepard.

"I'm sorry Shepard but we are under attack by two frigate-class warships of unknown configuration. The _Athena _is engaging. " said the svelte androgynous brunette.

Shepard ran to the cockpit of the _Ilos_ and jumped into the copilot chair just in time to see the _Athena_ attacking the left frigate at point-blank range, her twin forward Ardat particle cannons ripping deep gashes in the frigates hull. She flew in hot and fast mere meters from the frigate making its main gun useless and preventing the other frigate from firing on her, but its point defense canons were steadily tearing her shields to pieces. She engaged her tactical cloak and vanished buying some time for her shields to recharge.

_Good girl! he thought in grim admiration_

"EDI" Shepard shouted "She cant last long out there against that kind of firepower what can we do?"

"Very little" EDI replied "The _Ilos_ is only equipped with light defensive ..."

"Unacceptable" Shepard shouted

"If we can get close enough I may be able utilize Electronic Counter Measures providing their shields have been sufficiently weakened"

"Glad to hear you haven't gone soft in your old age EDI... at least we can give them something else to shoot at... EDI engage left frigate, maximum speed"

"Admiral?" EDI asked

The _Athena _disengaged her cloak behind the right frigate and fired both canons at full strength at point blank range buckling its shields. Sa'lisa's voice crackled faintly over the communicator "_Athena_ to _Ilos_, _Athena_ to _Ilos_ do not engage, repeat, do not engage. There is nothing you can do. I will delay them as long as possible so you can escape. I.. I love you Shepard".

"_Damn it _EDI!, she's my daughter!" growled Shepard.

"EDI, Shepard is in command!" Tali shouted.

"Very well Shepard, engaging now"

The _Ilos_ streaked into the kill zone just as the _Athena_'s shields finally collapsed under the weight of fire from the frigates point defense canons. Both frigates immediately turned and redirected their point defense fire on the _Ilos_ instantly collapsing its shields.

"EDI, now!" shouted Shepard choking, the cockpit filling with acrid smoke.

There was a loud explosion and everything went dark.

...

"Shepard are you OK?",

Opening his eyes and coughing he caught sight of Tali in her envirosuit bending over him looking concerned.

"I'm OK Tali, what about Sa'lisa?

"I don't know Shepard communications are out but I have managed to restore partial power and engines but not FTL that's completely fried. EDI managed to overload and burn out the frigates shields and jam their Command and Control systems but it wont last"

"Thanks Tali I don't know what I would do without you"

"Hmm I'll remind you about that someday" she said jokingly.

"EDI do we have sensors?"

"Negative Shepard all sensors and communications are currently off line, in addition estimated time for the enemy ships to restore systems is 32 minutes"

"_Damn it_!" Shepard said angrily, "EDI take us out of range of their point defence canons."

As the _Ilos_ pulled past one of the dead frigates the unmistakeable silver discus of the _Athena_ came into view, similarly lifeless and dark but otherwise undamaged. _Tough little bitch indeed_

"EDI we need to dock with the _Athena. _Can you access her systems?"

"Yes Shepherd"

The _Ilos_ carefully approached the lifeless ship and extended the airlock bridge joining the two vessels. The seals opened to a pitch black interior. Entering the ship, their suit lights thankfully revealed little sign of damage. Tali headed off to the Engineering section while Shepard went forward to the cockpit. Sa'lisa lay unconscious with a open wound to her head bleeding in pilots seat. He stroked her face gently

"Hey Sa'lisa, wake up its Shepard" then louder "come on Commander wake up now that's an order!"

Suddenly the lights came on and Tali emerged

"No significant damage to ship systems Shepard" she said "FTL is currently offline but I can get it back up eventually"

"OK Tali" said Shepard "we need to abandon the _Ilos _and make for Palaven in the _Athena"_

"Agreed Shepard, there's no way to get the _Ilos_ FTL back online without a dock but its going to be pretty tight in here."

"It helps that one of us is a machine. OK go get EDI and anything else you need, we are out of here in five"

As Tali ran for the airlock he lifted his daughter gently out of the pilots seat.

Sa'lisa stirred "Shepard... you came back for me?"

"Hey its OK you are going to be OK" he said with gentle humor setting her down carefully in a sleeper pod. "I've only just started to get to like you I'm not about to lose you now"

"Shepard... "she said again reaching up and kissing him softly on the lips.

"Shepard!" Tali said accusingly, as she came through the airlock "can you help me get the ship working please!"

"Eight minutes until enemy ships restore systems" added EDI

"Uh... sure thing Tali" he said shaking himself out of his shocked state, "EDI take the pilots seat and get us out of here, now"

"Yes Shepard" she said.

The _Athena's _thrusters roared into life and the enemy ships disappeared from view.

"Well that's something at least" he said "lets go restart the FTL drive" heading off to the Engineering section with Tali following silently behind.

"What the hell was that Shepard!" she whispered angrily her helmet thankfully for once concealing her expression.

Shepard sighed "I don't know Tali, maybe its an asari thing or because of the concussion, but what I do know is if we don't get this FLT drive restarted soon we've all had it"

"Shepard, enemy frigates have fully restored systems and are now on pursuit course" said EDI "estimated time to minimum weapons range 28 minutes"

Tali worked feverishly recalibrating the FTL matrix, her 6 long fingers dancing over the holographic displays like a pianist playing some master symphony. Shepard did his best to not get in her way, running around opening and closing master relays according to her instructions

"Estimated time to minimum weapons range 2 minutes" EDI said calmly.

"I know EDI, I know... try it now" muttered Tali

"FTL in 3... 2... 1..." said EDI

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	8. Chapter 8

**THE LAST CHANCE: Chapter 8**

* * *

_._

_._

_._

_Menae, crawling with monsters under a burning world. Howling cyclopean giants on the march_ _devouring with killing eyes. Twisted creatures bigger than a yargh, charging. Shepard holds his ground, his unrelenting fire glancing off impossibly thick armor and then a sickening crash as the thing smashes into him, knocking him to the ground. "Shepard!" Garrus screams, charges out of cover and fires at point blank range. Enraged, the monster turns, crushing the turian to the ground with one swipe of its massive twisted claw. Shepard recovers, rolls and fires, its tiny head dissolving into red mist. "Garrus!" he roars running back to the crumpled body of his friend, "I have your back Shepard" Garrus croaks. He pulls him to his feet "There's no Shepard without Vakarian" he grins._

Approaching Menae, the oppressive silence inside the _Athena's_ cramped interior was suddenly broken by a message from the Pavalen orbital battlestation _Crix:_ "Unscheduled vessel " it intoned darkly "Identify now or be fired upon".

"_Crix_, this is Commander T'Soni of Federation vessel _Athena_ under the command of Admiral Tali'Zorah" Sa'lisa intoned smoothly "activating Identify Friend Foe now"

A brief pause "IFF recognized _Athena_, please proceed to the Hierarchy, New Cipritine on approach vector 237-Mark 4" the voice replied stiffly.

As Sa'lisa rolled the _Athena_ onto the new approach, they caught their first sight of New Cipritine from space, emerging from behind a massive pan galactic liner, bigger even than the Collector's ship Shepard destroyed in another lifetime. Palaven's capital gleamed like a shiny new coin in the intense early morning light of Trebia, a vast steel-grey megalopolis by a dark landlocked sea.

"Well, at least its not burning now" He said quietly to himself, remembering Garrus standing on Menae and pointing back at the glowing orange scar that used to be his home city. Tali and Sa'lisa turned and looked at him silently for a moment before turning away. It had been like this for the last two weeks, since the attack and that kiss, the _Athena's _cramped interior saturated with the tension of unspoken accusations and confessions. They were all experienced enough spacers to know the dangers of emotional conflict in deep space on a ship with no privacy and nowhere to hide. Still, it had taken it out of all of them. Long journeys were bad enough without the consolations of friendship and conversation.

The silver-grey patch that was New Cipritine rapidly swelled and grew as the _Athena_ entered the upper atmosphere of Palaven on its final approach revealing a vast, highly-regimented and intricately organized system of streets and roads interspersed with uniform, steel-gray, buildings and, running along the shore of a blue-black sea, a row of impossibly tall needle-like silver towers.

"The Hierarchy" Sa'lisa said smiling suddenly pointing at a massive, stocky metallic pyramid at the exact center of the grid "They have their own dock on the east side. Boy am I looking forward to stretching my legs."

The _Athena_ glided smoothly into the open dock and, turning around to face the exit, gently touched firm ground for the first time in forty-six days. As the airlock opened their barely audible sigh of relief was drowned out almost immediately by the sound of horribly discordant martial music.

_A guard of honor?_ Shepard thought _Ah yes.. for our.. or __rather my young quarian Admiral_

He smiled, arching an eyebrow humorously "Hey Tali, I think that's for you".

She sighed heavily, got up stiffly, stretched and walked out of the airlock with Shepard and Sa'lisa following close behind to be greeted by a row of stiff turian solders standing at attention.

"Admiral Zorah, welcome to Palaven" a distinguished turian officer said formally "I am Commander Pallin. My commanding officer General Kryick would like to speak to you for a moment if its convenient?"

"T..Thank you. What about the rest of my team?" _Admiral Zorah! Keelah... When did I become my father?_

"Commander T'Soni" Sa'lisa said warmly, saluting Pallin "and this is Commander Shepard and Ms Edi Moreau"

"Commanders, Ms Moreau, welcome" Pallin said politely returning her salute. "If you just follow Lieutenant Sidon he can take you too the rooms that have been assigned you" he turned towards Tali "If that's acceptable to you Admiral?"

"Yes. That's fine" she said quietly

"Then if you follow me, Admiral"

...

As he escorted them to their rooms, the young turian Lieutenant was surprisingly good company. "You all came all the way from Tuchanka in that little transport, Ma'am ?" he grinned at Sa'lisa "you must have some pretty efficient ways of stress reduction" he said sardonically, suddenly reminding Shepard of Garrus.

"Yes _Lieutenant" _Shepard grinned warmly. He had liked the guy at first sight but after all he was hitting on his daughter and he wasn't about to allow him any liberties_._ "You would have thought the techs would have come up with an alternative to the old Mass Relays by now, so we don't all have to go stir crazy getting from place to place."

"Yes, that damn human Shepard had a lot to answer for... Not only did blow up all the Mass Relays but he unleashed the krogen..." he paused seeing Shepard's body tense "No offense was meant towards humans of course Sir"

"Thats OK Lieutenant" Shepard smiled faintly "He did make some pretty stupid decisions in retrospect ... So do you get much trouble from the krogan?"

Lieutenant Sidon looked relived and relaxed into a what passed for a turian grin "Well no, actually. They are pretty much confined to their own cluster since its practically impossible for them to launch a major offensive even if they wanted without a beachhead given the transit time between Tuchanka and Pavalen. A textbook example of overextended supply lines. We have the occasional raid but that's bad enough. Once, back in the day, we turians used to actually be on pretty good terms with the krogan, at least under Vakarian the Great since he was a personal friend of the Krogan Emperor."

"Vakarian the Great?" Shepard choked.

"The Liberator of Palaven, the Nemesis of the Reapers, Vakarian the Great, the Builder" Sidon intoned respectfully. "The best of us."

"While Garrus Vakarian undoubtedly played the crucial role in the reconstruction of Palaven and reforming the Turian Hierarchy not to mention the setting up of the Federation, his role in the Reaper War has been overstated in many contemporary turian accounts." the svelte androgynous AI said, looking at Shepard "There were others of equal or greater importance".

The Lieutenant glared for a moment at Edi Moreau "Maybe so, I am no historian. As this is your first visit to Palaven, you should visit the Pantheon if you are interested"

"Don't worry, I plan to" Shepard grinned _Vakarian the Great... if only Garrus was here "_Now Lieutenant, you promised me a shower..."

...

"Admiral Zorah, a pleasure to meet you, please have a seat" said the General warmly from behind his ornate desk.

"Thank you, General" Tali said uncomfortably.

His mood turned more serious "I hope you don't mind, but I contacted the Federation and spoke to President Lia'Zorah about your unexpected arrival. She of course confirmed that you are on a classified mission from her and asked me to extend every assistance to you which I am more than happy to do." he paused and then added more warmly "Any relation by the way?"

"The President is a clan-sister, we both belong to clan Zorah"

The General nodded "And 'Tali'Zorah'... any relation to the quarian who fought alongside Primark Vakarian during the Reaper War?"

"Yes" she relied simply "distantly."

Kryick nodded again "She was a hero who knew the true meaning of duty, honor and courage, you should be proud."

Tali sat silently, her expression unreadable behind her mask.

"Well Admiral" the General continued sensing the sudden uncomfortable silence "I have taken up enough of your time." He stood up "I'm sure you will want to relax after your arduous trip. I will have someone escort you to your suite. The supplies, equipment, documents, credit chits _et cetera_, the President asked to be made available to your team will arrive in the morning. I wish you every success in your mission".

"Thank you General" Tali said quietly.

...

After showing the three of them around the spacious but sparsely furnished suite and flirting with Sa'lisa who charmingly resisted all his moves, the Lieutenant left after extracting a promise for them all to meet later in the Officers Club for drinks. EDI went to her room leaving Shepard and Sa'lisa in the central living space. As soon as they were alone in the suite, Shepard tuned to her and sighed heavily "We need to talk"

"Can't it wait till after my shower?" Sa'lisa said looking at him with mild irritation. Her eyes softened at his expression "You know, you are in dire need of one too... in fact, if you wanted to save time we could..." she said playfully.

"NO!" Shepard said firmly "This is what I wanted to talk to you about, this has to stop Sa'lisa"

The young asari smiled "Oh Shepard, I was just teasing you, you humans can be so uptight".

"Were you also just teasing when you kissed me back on the _Athena_?" he asked.

"I was concussed Shepard, besides you had just flown into hell to rescue me from the jaws of certain death just like the hero of old that I grew up hearing about from Wrex. Is it really surprising that I should have feelings for you? Besides it wasn't all one way or did I imagine that...?"

"Sa'lisa, _goddammit!_ you are my daughter!" he said angrily.

"And if I wasn't your daughter?"

"If you wasn't my daughter then I would still be with Tali. I love her. The things we have been through together, endured.. there is no one else for me and I wont let anyone hurt her or what we have together." he continued more softly "That doesn't mean I don't have feelings for you as well. I care about you... as my daughter"

Sa'lisa stoked his face lightly with one hand and smiled. "I will take whatever I can get Shepard. I promise not to do or say anything more to upset your relationship with Tali".

Shepard smiled back "Thank you Sa'lisa" he said with relief "Now we should really hit the shower..." she looked at him impishly "_separate_ showers that is" he added with mock severity.

"Certainly Commander ,whatever you say" she said turning seductively away and heading for her room.

...

"EDI, where is Shepard?" Tali asked tiredly as she entered the suite finding the AI sitting alone in the central living space reading a data pad.

"Shepard has selected the room on your immediate right Tali" she said. "Commander Sa'lisa is in the room located to your left and there is a third room behind me which is free if you wish to use it".

_Sometimes EDI is just too damn perceptive she thought_

" Thank you EDI, I'm just going to check on Shepard now"

"Very well Tali" she said going back to her reading.

She entered Shepard's room to find him curled up on the bed naked, his head under a pillow, snoring gently. For a long moment she stood by the door watching him with a curious mixture of deep affection warm amusement and intense hunger.

Tali gently left the room and closed the door without waking him. She walked back to the central living space and sat opposite EDI looking down deep in thought. Edi Moreau looked up from her data pad and examined the young quarian with puzzlement.

"Tali, it is well past your normal sleep period. Is there something wrong?" she asked sounding concerned.

She looked at the dark-haired androgynous AI, "Oh EDI you saw... that kiss.. back on the _Athena_, that was not the sort of kiss a daughter gives her father no matter how badly your head gets banged" she said sadly.

EDI cocked her head thoughtfully "I agree, there is a high probability it was an invitation to mate at least on a subconscious level "

"But EDI, he's her father !" Tali growled, "What is _wrong _with her!

"Shepard is technically her father but Commander Sa'lisa does not actually share any genetic material with him nor was he involved in her upbringing. She is older, much older than Shepard. Further asari are known to have more permissive sexual morals and taboos than other species"

Tali stood up angrily "I don't care about damn asari morals or the lack of them, she needs to know to leave Shepard alone"

She walked over to Sa'lisa's door and sighed heavily before knocking twice with her 3 fingered hand.

A flirtatious laugh came from inside "You don't need to knock Shepard" came the voice "my door is always open."

For the first time since she had been brought back, Tali regretted not having a shotgun.

"You _Bos'chet!" _Tali shouted furiously, pushing the door open and striding inside "I am going to say this just once _stay the hell away from Shepard!_"

Sa'lisa, sitting on her bed in a short white shower robe,was speechless for a moment but recovered quickly and smiled at the enraged quarian. "Tali" she said in that irritatingly calm soothing way asari had "please sit down I'm sure we can..."

"There is nothing to talk about!" Tali growled "Shepard is mine!"

"I see" Sa'lisa said pensively "and I thought you cared about whats best for him?"

Tali was nonplussed "I do!" she whispered "I always have.. you have no idea what we have been through together."

The asari fixed her with a hard scornful look "So, since you care for him so much you have of course told him that you slept with his best friend only days after his death, not to mention that you then committed suicide by blowing your brains out with your shotgun leaving your friends to clean up the mess ?"

Tali felt sick and dizzy "how do you.. how could you possibly... ?"

Sa'lisa sighed "I've known from the beginning. Primark Garrus Vakarian is an important historical figure. Books were written about him. He even wrote one himself, about the things he did, the mistakes he made, his regrets, his betrayals... after all he could afford to be completely honest since you were all dead. Personally, I'm amazed at the devotion you seem to generate."

"But you never said..." Tali whispered.

"I care about him too dammit " Sa'lisa said with air of fierce defiance and determination that uncannily reminded her of Shepard "Never forget that. Make him happy or else I will". She yawned and continued sleepily "I would suggest coming clean with him before he finds out for himself and let the cards fall as they may.. maybe he will even forgive you... but for right now I need my beauty sleep so if you don't mind _Admiral, _don't let the door hit your envirosuit-covered ass on the way out."

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_Hope you enjoyed the latest Chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	9. Chapter 9

**THE LAST CHANCE: Chapter 9**

* * *

_._

_._

_._

_Edi Moreau, a week to the day since her husband died, planting pretty white flowers on his grave, telling him a joke. A blast rips apart the oppressive stillness of the jungle. In an flash of synthetic limbs, she is inside the broken ship, inside Shepard's cabin. Liara, curled into a ball, wailing. Garrus, insane and screaming, beating bloodied fists against the twisted metal bulkhead. Only Chakwas is calm, kneeling by the slender body, checking for vitals. Through the smashed mask Edi sees for the first time, a beautiful ruined face wet with blood and tears. Then Chakwas begins to sob, soft and low. Much later, Edi plants pretty white flowers by Tali's grave, and sings her an old quarian love song._

Shepard woke suddenly in an empty bed in an unfamiliar room from the sort of dream that made him feel exhausted and vaguely ashamed.

_Damn Sa'lisa_ he thought wearily.

There had been a time after he had first encountered the Consort Sha'ira back on the Citadel when the asari had been everything that was most erotic and desirable. Because of this he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life when he had entered into a relationship with Liara. The sensations of their melding of bodies and souls at Illos had haunted his dreams for months. Only after Halestrom when Tali had joined his new crew, when he had finally been ready to admit how he felt about her, had those dreams completely faded.

_Thankfully a man isn't responsible for the contents of his dreams,_ _only his actions. he thought ruefully_

Still Shepard was grateful that his subconscious was one of the few things even Tali with all her skills couldn't hack._ Where was Tali, anyway?_

Concerned, he quickly dressed in the now familiar black commando armor he had worn since Tuchanka. In the central sitting area, Edi Moreau and Sa'lisa were busily examining several plastosteel crates.

"Hey Shepard" Sa'lisa said excitedly turning quickly to face him "We've just had some _gorgeous _new weapons and armor delivered."

"That's great Commander" he muttered staring at her half-opened robe "but don't you think you should at least put something on before checking them out?"

Sa'lisa rolled her eyes humorously "You are of course quite correct Commander as always" she said "I'll just go try this on right now" she said cheerfully disappearing into her room.

Shepard sighed. He walked over to the svelte androgynous brunette staring pensively into the bottom of a crate.

"So EDI did we get anything good?" he asked.

"Yes Shepard" she said "These are some of the most advanced weapons and armor currently available in Federation space. You should be especially pleased with your new suit of Circe XI armor. It offers substantial battlefield advantages to your old N7 equipment. Usefully, it has a helmet which you will need if you wish to visit New Cipritine due to the ambient radiation levels which are dangerous for non-turians. Also, unlike your current armor, it does not smell."

Shepard looked mildly embarrassed "Well... I only have one thing to wear and there was no way to clean that properly back on the _Athena... _any new information on those two frigates that attacked us?" he asked quickly changing the subject.

She shook her head slightly, her long dark hair momentary obscuring her eyes "No Shepard. There is nothing in the Federation databases that remotely matches. I can only speculate that the attack had something to do with our mission and that therefore the vessels may be geth."

Shepard sighed "Pure guesswork which doesn't help us at all. Any idea where Tali is?"

"Tali returned last night from her meeting with General Kryick but has already left. She said she needed to contact President Lia'Zorah and to make... other arrangements. Also since she already had an exosuit suitable for exploring the surface of Palaven, she went to visit Garrus at the Pantheon. She asked for us to meet her there without Sa'lisa."

"Visit Garrus?" he said "You mean visit his tomb?"

"Not quite Shepard" she paused "do you remember after your reunion with Liara on Illium when she joked "so says the dead SPECTRE working for Cerberus", you asked Tali how the quarians dealt with death?"

"Sure, it was only 307 years ago, how could I forget" Shepard replied bitterly, remembering how upset he had been by that remark "that was a private conversation... how did you know about that?"

Edi Moreau sighed "You may recall Shepard I was, among other things, tasked by the Illusive Man with the total surveillance of the crew."

At the mention of the long dead terrorist leader, Shepard stiffened "Ah yes...when you were the _Normandy.._. I've been trying to forget."

"I am still the _Normandy_ in many ways Shepard and I cannot forget." she continued "Tali told you that the quarians before the Morning War practiced a form of ancestor worship. This was achieved by taking a personality imprint of a notable person and constructing an interface for it similar to a virtual intelligence. "

"So I understand.." he replied.

"Tali and I often talked about you" Edi Moreau said quietly "We spent a great deal of time together after you and Jeff died. She was... very distressed Shepard and I also had difficulty in processing my responses adequately about Jeff. She would ask me if I missed Jeff and I would tell her that I had a perfect recall of him, every conversation, every joke and would always have. She said how she envied me, how she wished she had a personality imprint of you like her people made in the old days so that she could still talk to you, hear your voice."

"It must have been a tough time on everybody" Shepard said "I'm sorry"

"When I spoke to Garrus after Tali died, he was obsessed with the idea that somehow you might come back one day, as improbable as that sounded. He said there were things he need to say to you if you did. So a century later when he was near the end of his life, the Primark sought my help to make his personality interface a reality. I based it on myself so it is not just a VI, it is something... more."

"I miss Garrus EDI" Shepard said quietly "more than I can say. He was my best friend and it would be great to talk to him again but I'm not sure how I feel about all this. We humans used to believe that the souls of the dead could sometimes become trapped in certain places, forever condemned to walk among the living, but unable to touch or taste or feel. This sounds a lot like that kind of hell."

"He is not a ghost Shepard. Regardless, he understood the consequences of his actions and was willing to own his decision, as he always did. You were close friends but I knew him far longer than you. For the six years we spent as castaways, he was the crews only hope, he is what kept them going every day when they wanted to give up. After we were rescued, it was Primark Vakarian who rebuilt Palaven and gave hope to the galaxy by founding the Federation. He knew his own mind on this."

"I always knew he had it in him" Shepard replied proud of his friend "Although I always had a hard time trying to convince him of it." he shook his head in astonishment "I guess now I get to congratulate him in person"

...

As their aircar sliced between the crowded yet orderly lanes of the grey New Cipritine skies, Shepard admired the craftsmanship of his new armor. The gleaming white hard suit was by far the best he had ever had, almost as snug and flexible as the asari light commando armor but far stronger and not much heavier with a helmet which allowed for impressive visibility. It was a welcome distraction from other more disturbing thoughts. He was being lied to, of course, or at the very least dissembled, that much was certain. Not out of malice, he was sure, but lied to all the same. He glanced suspiciously at the androgynous brunette sitting next to him.

"How much longer EDI?" he asked impatiently to break the tension.

"Six minutes, Shepard, traffic is especially busy during the Month of the Remembrance of the Fallen" she replied with a quiet intensity.

They were at the western outskirts of the city now flying towards beautiful semi-wild high hills into which wide stone stairs had been cut winding gradually to the summit where stood a simple but beautiful sliver-domed structure with three towers, each corresponding to one of the traditional points of the ancient turian compass.

The aircar landed some distance away from the Pantheon next to a copse of slender black trees and they both exited. Shepard paused in the shade moved by the peace and beauty of the place. The sky was full of an intense pure light and high above partially hidden in the glare, flying creatures resembling giant metallic eagles whirled fiercely and sparkled in the brilliant morning air.

_A good place for a hero's tired bones to rest, how I envy you Garrus... I wonder where mine lay...?_

"Shepard?" Edi Moreau asked gently

Shepard smiled wistfully at her "Just thinking what a nice quiet place this is"

"It used to be busier a hundred years ago. Then a larger Memorial to the Dead of the Reaper War was built nearer the center of New Cipritine and that is were the rituals for Remembrance of the Fallen now take place. The Pantheon is today mainly used by scholars and by those seeking absolution." she said quietly "Tali is probably waiting inside with Garrus."

Inside, the Pantheon was simple circular stone room roughly sixty meters across under a semicircular dome half as high again. Along the perimeter wall were tall black sarcophagi arranged like the spokes of a great wheel all pointing to the center of the room. At the center was a similar sized sarcophagi topped with a colossal silver statue of Primark Vakarian himself, face horribly scarred by the Blue Suns gunship on Omega, gazing with fierce pride towards his city of New Cipritine in the far distance. Every available inch on the light-gray interior surface of the dome was engraved with tiny writing which Shepard assumed to be names of the fallen. The atmosphere was at once quietly reverential and intensely claustrophobic.

Shepard walked slowly across the smooth stone floor to the central sarcophagi. On the longest side, on smooth black stone in large bold clean turian lettering was carved a simple inscription,

HERE LIES GARRUS VAKARIAN

PRIMARK OF PALAVEN

2160 CE -2296 CE

Shepard removed his helmet and his gloves and placed his hand on the cold smooth stone next to his name "Not bad C-Sec... Not bad at all" he muttered softly.

He moved reverentially around the sarcophagi until he was surprised by another inscription in much smaller English italics.

"_Yet each man kills the thing he loves."_

" Its from the _'Ballard of Reading Gaol'_ by Oscar Wilde" Edi said quietly coming up behind him;

Yet each man kills the thing he loves  
By each let this be heard,  
Some do it with a bitter look,  
Some with a flattering word,  
The coward does it with a kiss,  
The brave man with a sword."

He was surprised and moved by the depth of the emotion in Edi's voice "An odd choice for Garrus... I didn't even know he liked poetry never mind ancient English poetry."

She shook her head sadly lost in old well polished memories. "Shepard, I think we should proceed into the museum now" Edi said gesturing after a few moment to a spiral staircase cut deep into floor behind Garrus's statue.

Descending the steep but wide steps into a large dimly lit underground chamber filled with bookcases, battered armor and old weapons, Shepard's attention was immediately drawn to a large painting at the far side of the room from the staircase. The painting was old, dirty and in need of restoration but in the dim light he could just make out the familiar shape of a sweetly smiling quarian female laying nude on a rumpled bed in a dark cabin.

"Oh Crap" said a familiar voice dejectedly "I knew that painting was a bad idea."

Shepard turned to see Tali silently standing beside an agitated hologram of Garrus. Unlike the ghostly holos he was used to this was almost as solidly three dimensional as real life aside from an almost imperceptible shimmer, but he barely gave it much thought. His attention was caught between the painting and the look of raw pain and grief on Tali's uncovered face. It was almost enough to make him run to her and take her in his arms. Almost but not quite.

"Garrus... what the hell does this mean?" he demanded angrily.

Garrus stiffened, straightened up and looked at his old friend straight in the eye

"Exactly what it seems Shepard." the holo said bitterly "Tali and I were together after you died. I say again, a_fter_ you died. I loved her, I had been in love with her for a long time maybe not as long as you but a long time nevertheless . After we lost you, after we thought we lost... I, more or less forced myself on her with alcohol and neediness and she responded like the kind soul she is. But the guilt destroyed her, I destroyed her because even dead, she loved you and because of that, because of me, she killed herself, put a gun to her lovely head and pulled the trigger. All my fault, just as if I pulled the trigger myself."

Tali whispered "Garrus... it wasn't all your fault"

"This is true..." Edi began

"Garrus... You son-of-bitch!" he growled, his fists clenched.

"I agree Shepard and I've been waiting 300 years for you to tell me so to my face. No excuses. You have no idea how tempting it was to follow Tali but I'm turian and killing myself really wasn't an option. My damn duty came first, first to the damn crew, then to damn Palaven, then to the damn Federation but if it means anything to you I never had another happy day or a good nights sleep for the rest of my miserable life." his voice tailed off "Not that I deserved any better"

"I'm so sorry Shepard" Tali whispered, her slim body wracked with sobs "I should have told you before but I was just so happy to be with you again, I didn't want anything to..."

"Listen to her Shepard" Garrus almost pleading now "Tali truly loves you, don't let what I did..."

Shepard turned away furiously "Both of you... just stay the hell away from me!" he replied bitterly.

Just then the world turned to hell.

The shockwave knocked him off his feet, smashing him straight into a stone pillar, knocking him out cold. When he came to, the room was pitch black and he found himself buried under massive blocks of black stone. Without his new Cice armor, he realized, his body would have been utterly crushed. Struggling he finally managed to activate a ultrasonic cutting beam on his omni-tool and began to cut his way free.

"Tali!, EDI!" he shouted into the darkness. He stumbled frantically fumbling in the dark and shouting until he was horse. Suddenly in the distance Shepard saw a chink of light. Feeling his way along a narrow passage, he found himself outside on a stone ledge overlooking the city. Hovering no more than a hundred feet away, a colossal sphere of energy more than a mile across, glowed brighter than the sun making it almost impossible to see even with his helmets advanced filters. The city beneath him lay in ruins as if it had been struck by a massive earthquake with black smoke pouring from numerous untended fires, mostly from aircars and fighters dropping mysteriously out of the sky like dead flies.

"This is Commander Shepard to Tali... EDI... anyone...?" he muttered into his omni-tool.

"Shepard!" said a familiar voice "This is Sa'lisa. Hang on. I'm coming!"

"Sa'lisa!..that's a negative! I'm right beneath the sphere, its too dangerous.. "

"I know, its using some kind of dark energy pulse to overload shields and fry electronics but dont worry I can track your location by your omni-tool and the _Athena's_ a tough little bitch remember..."

Suddenly he spotted the familiar silver discus roar in view and stop just below the ledge. The sphere began to slowly pulsate filling the air with the smell of ozone. Shepard leaped onto the _Athena _and activated his magnetic boots just in time as the _Athena_ accelerated into a sharp left turn narrowly missing a massive discharge of energy from the sphere. A hatch in the top of the ship popped.

"Shepard!" Sa'lisa screamed "get inside now, its coming straight for us"

For a brief second he turned to see the colossal brilliant sphere racing towards them, gaining on the tiny ship at a terrifying rate. Then he dove into the hatch headfirst. In seconds, the _Athena_ cleared the atmosphere of Palaven and kicked into FTL.

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_Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. All comments and reviews welcome_


	10. Chapter 10

**THE LAST CHANCE: Chapter 10  
**

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.

.

"Sa'lisa where the hell are you going…? we need to go back for them!" Shepard said, choking on the burning acrid smoke filling the interior of the _Athena_.

"Negative Father" she said desperately trying to keep control of the heavily damaged ship and activating the fire suppression system "we barely escaped from that thing, we wouldn't last five minutes…"

"But Tali…" he said desperately

"If those stories you told me about Tali'Zorah from the old days are even half true than she is more than capable of looking after herself"

"Its not just that, I need to talk to her..."

"I know Father" she said kindly "but…"

"There is no but; I want this thing turned around now." Shepard shouted

"Commander" Sa'lisa said sharply "What just happened was an act of war. The Federation is now at war. You are a solider you know there are more important issues at stake. Besides, that thing was coming straight for us! It wasn't interested in Palaven. Think about it! First the _Ilos_ and the _Athena_ get attacked out of the blue by two heavy cruisers of completely unknown configuration. Then, days after we arrive that thing attacks Palaven, more precisely, the exact location where you were on Palaven, Garrus's Tomb. Then when I came to get you, it followed us out of the atmosphere and kept on following us until we went into FTL. Or more accurately it was following you"

Shepard considered for a moment. Her logic was inescapable. He had brought ruin to Palaven. He was responsible for all those thousands of deaths. Just to get one man, just to get him. Maybe even Tali…? He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to blot out the memory of the last time he saw her face, her desperate pleading, the tears, and the anguish in her voice. The Last time… He shuddered at the thought.

"How is that even possible" he said more quietly slumping forward in his seat in resignation

His daughter, turned back from the controls "I don't know" she admitted. "We can probably rule out 'They' being able to track you physically, they didn't try to attack you on Tuchanka for instance. That suggests that 'They' always know what ship you are traveling on and where you are going. To do that would mean 'They' can easily get into secure Federation communications and computer systems" She sighed "If that's true, we are truly fucked"

To her surprise, Shepard laughed quietly "Try fighting an invincible fleet of giant space robots"

Despite herself, Sa'lisa started giggling "I guess that would ruin your day". Soon both of them were laughing like maniacs, tears streaking down their faces and holding each other tightly as the stress of the last few hours overtook them.

Shepard became quiet and looked deeply into Sa'lisa's bluer than blue eyes "So what we do?"

"We need to find another ship Shepard" she said softly returning his gaze "without going through any official channels, without using any communications or computers. So we can't requisition one from the Alliance, nor could we rent or buy one…"

"So we need to steal one" Shepard said with a smirk and a sudden flash in his eyes that made her go weak at the knees.

She looked down laughing quietly "Federation officers engaging in acts of piracy… given your reputation why I am not surprised?"

Shepard frowned "I can understand if you don't want to do it Sa'lisa…" he began

"Oh I didn't say that" she said looking at him again "actually it sounds like fun, you must be rubbing off on me" she said with a sultry tone of voice

Suddenly Shepard was conscious of her being in his arms, her warmth, her lithe body, and the desire in her voice. Sighing he released her "So any ideas of ships we can steal?" he said

"Hmm,Praxis is notorious for pirates" she said with light amusement and the Federation has long suspected that they have a major base somewhere in the system, I assume you don't mind stealing from pirates… of course it may involve some shooting and explosions, think you can remember what to do?"

Shepard grinned "Oh I think so…" picking up a rifle "let's see if I can teach you what we did to pirates back in the day."

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Tali woke in the dark to the sound of distant scrabbling, her uncovered head swum in confusion and pain. Her last memories were of poor Garrus's pleading and the anger on Shepard's dear face. And guilt, so much guilt, everything they had all struggled through, all the sacrifices and dangers they had faced together for it to end like this. And then the world blew into pieces, burying her in the dark. There was something appropriate about that at least. But Shepard.. What had happened to Shepard…? She was frantic now, what if he had been hurt, buried under tons of stone? It didn't matter if he hated her, she still loved him.

Suddenly there was a crack of light in the darkness. Shepard? It must be Shepard coming to her rescue like he had done so many times before, back on the old Citadel when she was nothing but a wide eyed innocent girl, on Halstrom after getting her team massacred by the Geth and countless other times before and after. He had come back to save her again. A lump came to her throat. She swore to herself she would do whatever it took to make it up to him, make him love her again.

"Here I am!" she cried through the crack "I am here!"

"Tali!, hold on I'm coming!"

"Garrus?" she said in utter confusion "but how..?"

The crack widened and suddenly she was free and being helped to her feet by EDI. The svelte androgynous brunette seemed to have emerged from the cave in with no more than a thick layer of dust that made her look more like the android she knew on the _Normandy. _She embraced Tali tightly and kissed her lips tenderly and full of longing.

"EDI what…?" Tali spluttered

"Sorry Tali" I'm just so glad you are still alive" EDI said with Garrus's deep baritone

"EDI..? Garrus..?" Tali said utterly confused

Releasing her the android sighed "I think EDI saved me" she said "she must have realised that I would be destroyed by that energy pulse and so transferred my program into her computer matrix although how she could store both her program and mine I don't know, the memory requirements must be incredible"

"So where is EDI, Garrus?" Tali said faintly

"I don't know Tali" the android said "I hope her program is backed up somewhere safe, I would hate to think she sacrificed herself to save my miserable life, not that I am alive… I don't know what I am… some freak" he said gesticulating helplessly.

To the androids astonishment, Tali giggled manically leaning against a pile of rubble "So what am i?" she said "Im not Tali, Tali had to wear an exosuit, Tali was a dextro, Tali blew her brains out and died centuries ago. I'm no less of a freak than you Garrus. I try not to think too hard about what I am" she suddenly went quiet "Have you seen Shepard?"

The android stiffened "No" he said, "last time I remembered seeing him he was standing by the pillar at other side of the room, hating me". He walked to completely caved in section and hit it futilely "but dont worry Tali im damn sure he wouldn't let himself be buried in my Tomb he wouldn't be able to deal with the embarrassment for one, besides he was wearing heavy body armour it should have kept him safe. We need to get out of here and alert the Hierarchy and get a rescue team in here. Assuming the attack has been driven off that is"

Tali nodded "Agreed. Let's try and find a way out"

The clone and the android stumbled arm in arm supporting each other over the rubble of Garrus's ruined tomb searching down passageways for the slightest crack of light or breeze. Eventually they found a service passageway that seemed relatively clear of rubble and dug their way out emerging blinking into the intense light of Palaven dawn.

The android looked over the ruin of the city and sighed "Damn, so much effort wasted" He paused "I need to contact the Hierarchy, need to get them out here to look for Shepard" he said.

Tali giggled again "Garrus… I don't think that's a good idea, you are not Primark anymore you know, besides I'm not sure that your people will understand one of their most revered figures coming back as a woman and a synthetic woman at that"

Startled the android examined at its body properly for the first time "Spirits" he said "I have… breasts, this is not good Tali, not good at all"

"Well at least you are alive Garrus, sort of" she said quietly, the stress and exhaustion of the last few hours beginning to catch up with her, "Attention Hierarchy" she said into her omnitool "This is Admiral Tali'Zorah at the Pantheon. I need a search and rescue team urgently one of our party Commander Shepard is missing and believed still trapped within the building."

"Admiral Tali'Zorah acknowledged. Be advised that Commander Shepard and Commander T'Soni left Palaven in the _Athena_ during the attack"

Tali was stunned for a second "Shepard… left me..?"

The android put an arm on her shoulder kindly "there are lots of reasons why he might of had to leave, right now the important thing is that we know hes OK. Now we need to get back to the Hierarchy so we can we can figure what we do next. For one thing we are probably going to need a ship"

Tali nodded slowly and they started walking in the direction of Garrus's ruined city.

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_A/N a short chapter just to get the story started again, thanks for your comments and reviews _


	11. Chapter 11

**THE LAST CHANCE: Chapter 11**

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Sa'lisa lent back in her pilots chair and snarled in frustration "Damn Shepard... these guys are no ordinary pirates"

They had been shadowing the massive human freighter for 3 days now through the dense asteroid field looking for its port of origin, Shepard getting increasingly worried about Tali. He knew she could take care of herself- in all his battles he had never met anyone as smart and brave and determined as her – but so much had been left unsaid in Garrus's Tomb. He desperately needed an untraceable ship to get back to her, and this freighter looked like it would do nicely despite it reminding him of a flying brick compared to the svelte bird of prey that was his _Normandy_. The _Athena's_ long range scans revealed a small fortune of military upgrades and modifications. _'It would have cheaper to have bought a decommissioned cruiser from the Alliances Arcturus shipyards then spend the enormous amount of credits that had been wasted refitting this clunker'_ he thought. Whoever had done it clearly wanted the ship to remain anonymous, a wolf in sheep's clothing. _'Which is precisely why I must have if'_

They had watched as the converted freighter had purposely avoided open shipping lanes instead keeping close to the densest part of the asteroid field. That in itself was remarkable. Other than Joker few pilots would be skilled or desperate enough to risk such a dangerous manoeuvre especially in something which was clearly as agile as a drunken krogan. Only once did the ship approach another freighter, a slow moving turian cargo vessel with only light shields and a single phase canon, easy pickings for a ship armed to the teeth like this one, but instead of boarding it, the ship made deliberate effort of avoiding it, hiding in a crater on one of the asteroids for nearly 3 hours until the other ship had completely moved out of sensor range. Despite flying something which despite its looks was pretty close to the size and armament of a cruiser, her Captain was taking no chances in being detected. Only the _Athena's_ state of the art sensors and tactical cloak not to mention superb piloting by Sa'lisa allowed them to follow at all and then only at a considerable distance.

"Maybe they are smugglers rather than pirates?" Shepard said doubtfully

"Maybe" she replied doubtfully "but why would they need a battleship? Smugglers tend to go for speed and maneuverability " She peered at her display once more "They have to have a port around here somewhere; it's the only explanation for all this cloak and dagger stuff."

Shepard nodded "That would be my guess too. They are going to…Wait! What the hell!"

As they watched in astonishment, a spherical asteroid at least a hundred kilometers across suddenly appeared dead ahead of their position. The converted freighter fired its thrusters and swiftly turned towards it on a landing approach. After a few seconds as improbably as it appeared, the asteroid quickly vanished along with the ship.

"A tactical cloak" Sa'lisa whispered

"Which can cloak an entire asteroid?" Shepard said incredulously "Kasumi told me that it was hard enough cloaking a person effectively and those devices cost a fortune"

Sa'lisa smirked "That was three centuries ago… " she said "but…" she continued more seriously "but still… a tactical cloak that could cover an asteroid?" she shook her head "I suppose it's just possible but I don't want to think about how much it cost or what it would take to run it continuously."

"Not that is done them much good" Shepard snorted "we can follow them through it, right?"

"We know where it is, sure" she said slowly "I'm betting if we follow them in we will get past the cloak eventually, hopefully in time for us to avoid crashing into the surface but…"

Shepard raised his eyebrows "but?"

Sa'lisa was uncharacteristically grave "Commander I know you're the best and I'm pretty good myself but there are just two of us. The amount of credits this operation must have cost to put together… Whatever we have stumbled on here is big, clearly too big for just the two of us."

Shepard sighed leaning back in his chair "Normally I would agree with you Sa'lisa but we don't have choice. We need a ship that can't be traced. We need to get back to Palaven. We need to find out what's causing all of this and there is only us. You said it yourself; we can't contact anyone without bringing down that thing on us"

"This is true" she sighed in return

"Besides" Shepherd continued with a smirk "It was always like this back in the old days, me and a couple of my friends against impossible odds"

Sa'lisa grinned "I did always love Uncle Wrex's crazy stories about the heroic Commander Shepard when I was a kid like the time when you went charging in with Mother and Garrus towards a Reaper on Tuchancha armed with just your old Vindicator and a bad attitude. I mean seriously what was all that about… "

He shuddered slightly. Oh yes… the heroic Commander Shepard who that day came within a whisker of betraying Wrex who had called him a brother and murdering Mordin one of his closest friends and shipmates in cold blood.

"I am no hero Sa'lisa" he muttered looking down at his hands "I just do what I have to do to save people, the way I always had to do"

Concerned, she touched his arm affectionately, smiling as he turned to look at her "I understand Father… and I'll be proud to fight alongside you whatever we have to face" she said simply.

"OK then" Shepard said more cheerfully "once more into the breach…" laughing at Sa'isa's confused frown.

Gingerly the _Athena_ approached the region of space where the asteroid had appeared on one quarter thrusters and with her own tactical cloak engaged, Sa'lisa intently focused on her instruments. They gradually closed in on the last recorded position of the asteroid but still all they could see was empty space.

"Goddess please do not let the cloak reach all the way down to the surface" she hissed to herself "or this is going to end very badly"

Suddenly, the rocky surface of the asteroid came into view only a thousand meters away and rapidly approaching. With a colourful string of asari curses that completely defeated his translator Sa'lisa managed to just fire the forward thrusters in time to pull the_ Athena_ up out of its precipitous dive.

"Phew" she smirked in his direction recovering her abundant sense of humour "That was... interesting. I can honestly say that in over two centuries of flying around the galaxy I've never done anything like that before"

Shepard grinned "See" he chuckled "nothing like a little quality father daughter time together"

Sa'lisa snorted humorously and quickly scanned her workstation "Ok I'm picking up an energy signature about 30 clicks from here; want to take a look… say hello?"

"It's the only polite thing to do considering how much effort we took to get here.

While Sa'lisa parked the Athena in conveniently deep crater 2 kilometres from the base, Shepard suited up in his white Circe heavy armour and selected a rifle from the armoury. The long trip from Tuchanka to Palaven had at least allowed him to catch up on the last three centuries of the evolution of the tools of his trade. The mass accelerator weapons he had originally trained on and wielded with such finesse during the Reaper Wars had been consigned to history along with gunpowder and shot. Energy weapons were now the instruments of choice. Hefting the bulky yet ergonomically designed rifle, Shepard was reminded of the particle rifle Jarvik wielded to such devastating effect

"You'll love it Shepard" Sa'lisa said suddenly coming up behind him "deadly accurate, long range and you don't have to worry about those ridiculous 'thermal clips' you old guys had to use back in the day. You just have to make sure you don't overload it so short bursts are the thing. In case you do overload it you better take a pistol as a backup since you don't have any biotics to fall back on. "Thanks for the advice" Shepard said picking up an energy pistol "I assume you are as talented as your Mother?" She smirked and arched an eyebrow suggestively "In what way Shepard? "she replied in a playful tone of voice with a hand on her hip.

"Err.. biotically that is" Shepard said slightly flustered "When Liara and I went into combat together I naturally took point since I was always armoured like a tank. She used to mainly enjoy throwing bad guys around from cover as well as spraying them occasionally with her trusty Tempest submachine gun"

She smiled at his obvious embarrassment "Don't worry Shepard. I am a skilled biotic and can throw people around at least as well as Mother but you're quite correct I am not a tank" she gestured to her close-fitting black asari commando armour which revealed her lithe figure to devastating effect "so if we do go in as you humans say 'guns blazing' I will be more than happy for you to take point even though I can out shoot you with any weapon any day be it assault rifles or sniper rifles."

"Ha!" Shepard grained "That sounds like a challenge T'Soni" fitting the rifle to his back.

"Certainly it is… but let's try a little finesse shall we rather than just storming in which you have a reputation for… its less fun I grant you but we are going to be probably outnumbered a gazillion to one"

Don't worry" he chuckled snapping on his helmet and entering the airlock "They never stood much of a chance back in the day with just one Shepard and these guys are about to get two"

_'Besides nothing like a little warranted ultra-violence to get over a bruised heart'_ he thought quietly to himself and then _' I hope Tali is OK"_

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_A/N Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for your comments and reviews_


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